Metabolic liver disease, is an emerging public health concern in Western countries, but has largely been overshadowed by health issues such as cancer and diabetes. Chronic liver disease (of which metabolic liver disease is a significant contributor) however, is a significant public health concern, evidenced by its contribution to nearly 2 million deaths per year worldwide.

The primary treatment option for metabolic liver disease is a liver transplant. In fact, of the liver transplants performed every year, 14% are due to damage associated with metabolic disorders. With any organ transplant, however, such a procedure comes with drawbacks, the most frustrating of which is the need for patients to wait for an organ donor.

As transplants are not a reasonable or feasible option for many people, alternative treatment options are necessary. Enter Dr. Tracy Grikscheit, a doctor-scientist at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, who hopes to make liver transplant a thing of the past for the millions of people who live with metabolic liver disease.

Dr. Grikscheit was awarded a $1.3 million grant to study how stem cells can be used to treat liver disease caused by metabolic disorders. In a press release, Dr. Grikscheit details the importance and practicality of using stem cells to treat liver disease:

“Liver-based metabolic diseases are the perfect starting point to apply cellular therapy to liver disorders. The only current therapy — a liver transplant — is costly and in short supply. Plus, it requires suppressing the patient’s immune system, which has long-term consequences.”

The project, termed UPLiFT for Universal Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapy, aims to use pluripotent stem cells (cells that can turn into any cell in the body) to correct liver associated disorders like Crigler-Najjar Syndrome. A genetic mutation in liver cells of these patients makes them unable to covert bilirubin (a byproduct of red blood cell degradation) to its non-toxic form. Dr. Grikscheit hopes to bypass the need for a liver transplant by giving these patients pluripotent stem cells that can become liver cells without the genetic mutation, and are able to convert bilirubin to its non-toxic form. The use of pluripotent stem cells would also potentially eliminate the need for lifelong immunosuppressive therapy

Dr. Grikscheit will use the CIRM grant to test safety and efficacy of the stem cell treatment in pre-clinical trials to determine the optimal cell dosage that will be both safe and relieve disease symptoms, as well as assessing any off-target effects of the treatment. She has previously received a grant from CIRM to study stem cell therapy options for digestive neuromuscular condition, which you can read about here.